Cohort Studies
What are cohort studies and why are they important?
Key Points
- Cohort studies are a type of longitudinal study in which a group of people with a common characteristic is followed over a time period to investigate predictive risk factors and health outcomes.
- A cohort study investigates the incidence of disease in exposed and unexposed groups with the risk factors.
- A cohort study is the most reliable type of observational study.
Helpful Links, Videos and Online Courses
Overview
- What are Cohort Studies?
- Describe basic concepts of cohort studies including strengths and limitations.
- Cohort Studies
- Overview of cohort study designs with various examples of prospective and retrospective cohort studies.
- Cohort Studies
- This University of North Carolina Gillins School of Global Public Health ‘ERIC Notebook’ introduces statistical analysis methods for cohort studies with various examples.
Videos
- The Cohort Study – Population Health: Study Design
- Explains the basic concepts of a cohort and differentiates between prospective and retrospective cohort studies with examples.
- Cohort Studies
- Dr. Danial Whelam teaches an overall introduction of a cohort study.
- Cohort Studies – Basic Study
- Harvard School of Public Health’s video series explains an overview of cohort studies with examples.
Online Courses
- Cohort Studies
- A series of videos are available (free access) through this program on different types of research methods and statistics.
Relevant Publications
- Setia, M. S. (2016). Methodology series module 3: Cohort studies. Indian Journal of Dermatology, 61(1): 21–25.
- Wang, X. & Cheng, Z. (2020). Cohort studies: Design, analysis, and reporting. Chest Journal, 158(1S): S72-S78.
- Aronsson, J., Clarke, D., Grose, J., & Richardson, J. (2020). Student nurses exposed to sustainability education can challenge practice: A cohort study. Nursing and Health Sciences, 22(3): 803–811.
